It took several minutes for time to catch up to me. It felt as if everything played out in slow motion, and I mentally struggled to register what had happened. It was as if I had blacked out, but my memory was returning, though at an agonizingly slow rate. However, I was partially aware of what was happening in real time. I was seated on the floor, crying deeply—I couldn't remember the last time I had cried so much—and I was holding him. I held him tightly to me, begging whatever god there was out there to not take him from me. I refused to let him leave me, demanded to nothing to keep him here.

I felt that warm body. I loved that feeling. I didn't want it to grow cold, like me. I could hear a voice echoing in the background, but the only clear sensations I recognized were my own crying and his warmth. I was in a strange state, blinded by the scene as it replayed before me, and at the same time I was trying to keep him alive by crying. I was trying to focus on two things at once, trying to make sense of them and find a link.

My vision cleared, and time caught up with me. Through the blur of my flooded eyes, I saw my hands as they held the warm body for dear life. I saw a pair of deep, dark eyes, and a pair of lips that emitted a voice. I noticed that we were still in my apartment, on the carpet next to the window, and suddenly everything made sense. He slipped, I screamed. I lunged and grabbed him. I yanked him back inside before he could slip from my grip. I set him on the floor and bound him there.

I saved him.

I then realized that the echoing voice was Chuck's. Soon enough, I could hear what he was saying. "Steve, come back to me. Don't shut me out like this…please…"

He was imitating me. Was I having an episode, similar to what Chuck occasionally had? Or had he just seen it that way? I saw that he was crying too, and he was clearly extremely scared. But in my state of lingering shock, all I could muster past my lips was: "…Why?"

He sobbed loudly and shook his head.

I gave him a firm jerk, then asked again, this time louder. "WHY?"

"I was scared," he whimpered. "I…I didn't r-realize…" He paused for a moment. "I d-didn't realize what I was d-doing."

"You didn't realize!" I barked. "You almost killed yourself!" I broke down in that instant, leaning into his shoulder as more tears drenched my face. "Chuck…I couldn't live with myself if you…" I choked.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, sniffling. "I d-didn't mean…mean it."

"Why?" I repeated, desperately needing to know.

"When you're n-not here…I see things," he explained. "I g-get sc-scared."

I looked up at him silently.

"It was the…only way out," he continued, staring at the window. "Only way out from…the…the nightmares."

"Only when I'm not around?" I asked.

"That's when it…when it gets real bad," he explained. "B-But you're here now. The n-nightmares are g-gone."

I stayed silent, taking it all in. He strained his neck to peer out the window, but I held him firm.

"I wanna see," he protested. "But can you…can you…" I heard him swallow hard. "Can you hold me? So I don't fall out?"

"Sure thing," I said quickly, not hesitating on the idea to hold that warm body close to me. I pushed myself to a stand and pulled him up by his wrists, then wrapped my arms around his tiny frame and absorbed as much of his heat as possible. Both our eyes focused out the window. "It really is pretty."

"Mm-hmm," Chuck agreed. "My mother called it stars on Earth."

I assumed he was referring to the many tiny lights shining in the millions of windows across the cityscape. I sighed and rested my chin on his shoulder. "What was your mother like?"

"Nice," he said.

"Just…nice?" I asked.

"Like you," he added.

My stomach fluttered. I hummed contentedly, and buried my face in his neck. I could feel his breathing accelerate eagerly, and he craned his neck back. When I rested my chin back on his shoulder, he sighed.

"What did she look like?" I asked curiously.

"Red hair," he explained. "Like mine, but longer."

I suddenly remembered tracing one of Chuck's flashbacks and seeing a beautiful woman with Chuck's flowing red hair, which draped down past her shoulders. That must have been her.

"She gave me Maria," he explained further.

"Oh," I said, my eyebrows raised. It suddenly explained a lot about his attachment to the raccoon. "Well, I'll tell you what: we will find Maria. I promise you that."

Chuck bit his lip, refocusing his attention to the nighttime scenery. After a moment of silence, he yawned.

"Ready for bed?" I asked.

He rubbed his eyes and nodded. I let go of him and shut the window, then led him over to the couch. But rather than crash on it like he usually did, this time he stood there and gave me a disgusted look.

I had a gut-tingling feeling that I knew what was on his mind. "Oh, I guess you'd rather sleep with me?"

Chuck's face lifted and he nodded. I took his hand and led him again into my room. While I changed into my pajamas, Chuck made himself comfortable in my bed. Just as I lay beside him, he asked a bizarre question.

"Is this love?" he asked.

I stared at him for several seconds. Despite the confusing labyrinth of my emotions, I had never thought of it that way. "Love?"

"I loved my mother," he explained as he fidgeted shyly with the bedsheets in a familiar manner. "And she loved me. That's why she kissed me."

An overwhelming sense of realization dawned on me. I couldn't believe it took me all day to figure it out. "Wait a second…is that what was up with you this morning? You wanted me to kiss you again?"

"I was confused," Chuck murmured. "Does it mean…" He blushed. "Does it mean you love me?"

I beamed. My stomach felt full of butterflies, and my body felt lighter than air. Though it wasn't a crystal-clear answer, it was the closest answer I could come to. I placed my hand behind his neck and urged him closer to me. "Of course I love you. I love you so much…"

He placed his hands behind my back, handling me much more gently than he had that morning. "I love you, too…"

I wanted to kiss him everywhere. I kissed his eyebrow, his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, and finally his lips. When my lips touched his, he quickly reciprocated, holding me tighter. I cradled his head in my hands, feeling his hair as I kissed him. It was so soft and silky, very different from its dirty, matted state from when I first found him.

Chuck's lips quivered against mine, as if he was trying to say something, and he pulled away from me far enough to look at me. His expression was both nervous and sad, and he gazed at me with what I could only describe as puppy dog eyes. His lips closed tightly, and he swallowed, as if pushing back another wave of depression.

"Are you alright?" I asked gently.

"You make the nightmares go away," he whispered. "You keep them away…you can't…you can't leave…"

"Chuck, I'm right here," I assured.

Chuck shook his head. "You left. You were gone for so long…The voice said you wouldn't come back."

I frowned. "What voice?"

"The voice is in my head," he said shakily. "He said you wouldn't come back. And I saw my father. He…He chased me out the window." He curled against me, terrified. "You weren't there, and…I almost…I almost died."

I had a feeling that what had happened was finally sinking in, and not lightly, either. "I'm really sorry, Chuck. I would have stayed home with you if I had the ability, but I have to go to work." I sighed. "I guess I'll have to take you with me to the restaurant, though I don't know how that'll play out."

Chuck shook his head again, muttering: "Don't go…don't go…don't go…"

I sighed, then sat up slightly and gently lifted Chuck until he was sitting in my lap. I held his arms firm and tried to snap him out of it. "Chuck, look at me. Look at my eyes, Chuck." He appeared to be struggling to collect himself, and I patiently waited until he was able to look at me before speaking again. "Listen, I don't want you to think about what could have happened, okay? There's no need to scare yourself. I'm here now, and that's all that matters."

"But tomorrow, you're gonna—"

"Don't think about tomorrow," I said. "Don't think about the window, don't think about the nightmares, don't think about tomorrow. I want you to look at me and know in your heart that everything will be okay." My voice lowered slowly to a whisper. "Look at me until I am all you see. Let me take over your thoughts so I can wash those nightmares away. I'll do all the work; you sit back and enjoy the ride."

What I said seemed to help. Chuck was visibly relaxed—his eyes were closed and his muscles melted. I leaned forward and, again, I kissed his forehead, his eyebrow, his nose, his cheeks. But instead of moving to his lips, I continued downward to his chin, his jaw, his neck, and his collarbone. I arched my neck to plant the final kiss on his chest, right over his beating heart. Just then I felt Chuck's nose in my hair, and his slender hands locked over the back of my neck. He held me there, embracing my head in a similar manner in which I've seen him hold Maria. I felt his soothingly warm breath soak through my hair, and his heartbeat was a lullaby to my ears—thump after rhythmic thump. It was somewhat tragic to think that I almost lost this. I almost lost his heartbeat before I knew how beautiful it sounded. I sighed contentedly, then began stroking his thighs. He snuggled my hair in response.

"You're so warm," I whispered. I lifted my head to his shoulder, but allowed him to keep his grip on the back of my neck. I bound his midsection tightly in my arms and pulled him closer.

"You're cool," he said, adjusting himself on my lap so that our torsos were touching.

"Too cold?" I asked, pulling back to face him.

Chuck shook his head. "No…I like it. It's like…when my mother took me to the pool. The water was cold, but…it was so fun."

"So, I'm like pool water?" I said jokingly.

Chuck's breath became shaky, and his chest bounced slightly in my grasp. It almost sounded like he was crying again, and I was quickly struck with worry—had what I said made him upset? But when he lifted his head to look at me, there were no tears in his eyes, or even a thin trace of sadness. His lips were stretched into a childish grin, and my stomach fluttered crazily when I realized that he was actually laughing.

Taken by surprise, I placed a curled finger under his jaw and beamed in response. "Finally, you smile!"

He looked away from me, but continued to smile as his face grew warmer.

"I've never felt this good," he muttered. "I feel so safe. So…happy."

"I told you I'd wash those nightmares away," I said. I lifted him again and set him down on the bed beside me, then pulled the covers over both of us. I reached over to switch off the lamp, then we adjusted until we were comfortable.

"I'll dream about you," Chuck whispered through the darkness.

I reached in his direction until I felt his head, then I kissed him one last time on the forehead. "And I'll dream about you, too. The longer we sleep, the better our dreams will be."

We were asleep within minutes.